Real Experiences

I had no symptoms, I wouldn’t have known.

When Martin* was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 56 years old, he was shocked.
He had no family history of prostate cancer, no symptoms – he didn’t even know what his prostate was.
“There was nothing to give me any concern. I just had my regular checkup with my GP, with a DRE (digital rectal exam) and blood test, and he was concerned with my PSA count, how much it had increased in a short period of time – especially at my age. He referred me to Mark Fraundorfer, and I had a biopsy. We knew then for sure I had prostate cancer.”

“It was completely out of the blue. I didn’t know any family or friends that had had it, I’d never thought about it. Basically my reaction was ‘why me?’. You go through all these emotions when you hear the ‘C’ word; it’s just a shock.”

George* had noticed that his urine flow seemed to be slowing down. It didn’t worry him; he figured it was ‘just one of those things’ that happens to older men. It was only after the results came through from a routine PSA blood test that it became clear something was wrong.

He was referred to urologist Liam Wilson for a biopsy, and in August 2010, George was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“My first reaction was just ‘oh, shit’, then I was just disappointed. My father had it, so there was always that chance. While my father didn’t die directly from it, it contributed to his early death – he didn’t get it treated and looked at, he left it too long. But you know, I thought, they’re pretty reasonable at dealing with it now, and they can hold it at bay for a number of years, so I thought I’d just be positive about it. I had good support from my wife, and we just said, let’s go, let’s get it sorted, she’ll be right. I took a lot of confidence from Liam too; he was pretty positive about it.”